Ukeleled!

Well, I made a decision.

I am going to learn how to play the Ukulele.

I want to be able to play it in the BBR. I've been looking for something special for my character to do, that might add some color to the show. Hendo outlawed my idea of a child's drum kit. And the soprano recorder has about 8 notes and I'm having trouble finding songs appropriate to my character that fit in those 8 notes. (You don't want to hear about the wasted night that I spent in bed, trying to fit "Freebird" into those damned 8 notes. No, that is not a euphemism for something else.)

But then I hit upon this song...


That was Patience and Prudence singing the song on the Perry Como shot in 1956. They had a national hit with the number. Nice job, kids.

I recalled hearing local chanteuse, Thea, performing the song at a production of "Don't Spit The Water" that I stumbled into. It was the first time that I'd heard the song. As part of her stage banter, she mentioned that we might recognize the song from the movie, "The Jerk", which I hadn't seen.
When I got home that night, I looked up a Youtube clip from the movie and instantly fell in love with the song. So simple. So charming. So short.

And it looks relatively easy to play!

Yesterday, I priced ukuleles at the Old Town School of Folk music. Just $30. That should be pretty easy to work into the budget.
Last night, I bought a copy of the song from Itunes and popped it into my ipod. Today, whenever I found myself whistling at work, THIS was the song that I was whistling.

I spoke to Hendo at lunch and mentioned that this was something that I was putting together for the BBR. He told me not to bother buying a ukulele. He had one that he didn't actually play. If I tuned it, I could use it in the show and maybe have the number ready for next months show.

Tonight I was trolling around the internet, seeing what sort of online sources were available for learning to play the ukulele. Quite by accident, I stumbled onto this charming site. It's called, simply, Ukulele Lessons. I don't know if there's something written in the Ukulele Teachers Handbook that all teachers have to be charming and informative, but thumb through that site and see how many gems you come up with.

Here are two of my favorite quotes from the lessons guide.

Here's the instructor discussing the big step from practicing to playing for friends and family members...

If you study the basic chords, you should play for many people. Even if you can play only three chords, it is just enough.
If your family and friends' faces turn bitter, you don't have to worry. If you are a poor player, just back up slowly and fade away.

I fucking LOVE that.

Don't apologize. Don't make excuses. Just KEEP playing, maintain eye contact and slowly back away, out of the room. Once you're clear of your friends and family, you can break into a run and get the Hell out of there.

Delightful.

Also, remember this important point...

Ukulele is the miracle music instrument .The ukulele sound won't interrupt the talking of business or the whisper of lovers.

So, you're free to whip out your ukulele at a high-power business meeting or post coitus. C'mon ladies, you'd be really impressed if your lover showed off his pitch perfect key and simple fingering style on his ukulele, right after love-making, wouldn't you?
And if you DON'T like it, he can just maintain eye contact with you, keep playing, slowly back up slowly and fade away.
Brilliant.

Well, I've located a ukulele and picked my first song and as crazy luck would have it, there's even a lesson online to teach you the 6 or 7 chords that you need, to play the song.

Check out this really, really lovely instructional clip.

That's Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys.

I know. It's incredible. The intricate design of her instructional video is just amazing. Who knew such a thing existed?
For more delights, you should check out her actual website. It's equally lovely.

So, let's see.
Ukulele located.
Lyrics located.
Song is downloaded into my ipod.
Online visual lesson is located.

All that I need to do now, is to apply myself to learning the song on my own and singing WHILE I play the "uke".

That should be easy, right?

TO BE CONTINUED....

PS. Now that your ukulele mind is all warmed up. Prepare to have it blown away by this guy! His name is Jake Shimabukuro. You can learn more about him by visiting his website. He's got an album out too. Which you should buy.